1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a reservoir for fluids, specifically for water, to be used in association with a building, preferably but not exclusively a residence. The reservoir is manufactured in sections for ease of manufacture, transport and assembly and is reinforced and designed for burial underground to provide weather protected and unobtrusive service.
Associated with the reservoir is an inlet connected to an appropriate collection arrangement, in the preferred embodiment being a roof, gutter and downspout assembly of the building roof gutter system. Inlet and overflow control is provided for by a valve. The water is removed through a pump apparatus controlled from inside the building. A sump for collecting sediment and a filter is also provided.
2. Description of Related Art
While the prior art shows underground storage tank for fluids, applicant believes that none of the prior art either teaches or suggests the novel and nonobvious embodiment disclosed in this application including the structure of the reservoir, inlet/overflow arrangement, outlet and pump assembly and alternative end uses. Nevertheless, applicant submits the following art as indicative.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,927 issued Jul. 9, 1985 to Bucherre shows a water collection apparatus and flexible bladder reservoirs. Bucherre only implicitly addresses adaptation to utilizing a building roof gutter system to collect water. Bucherre further uses a manually operated valve to direct overflow to a ditch, completely differently than the instant invention. Bucherre uses a filter at the inlet not at the outlet thereby providing no material filtering of particulates or other matter which may be in the reservoir from whatever cause.
The invention uses a float operated valve to close the inlet and open the overflow conduit thereby redirecting water to a drain or overflow network when the tank is full. U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,338, issued Aug. 15, 1978 to Castle uses a ball operated valve to close an outlet, not to redirect an inlet.
The instant invention enables use of a level indicator to enable remote monitoring of the status of the reservoir. An elaborate inventory control system using underground reservoirs, particularly addressing petroleum storage and marketing, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,762 issued May 9, 1989 to Hasselmann. This addresses a completely different embodiment than the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,249 issued Dec. 18, 1990 to Killman uses a recirculation conduit for overflow from errors in filling of, primarily, petroleum storage reservoirs. This deals with a completely different embodiment than the instant invention having an automatic overflow for drain-off of environmentally safe rain water.